But there is another element, more important than all….

That element lies in the heart of humanity.

 

Calvin Coolidge “Inaugural Address”

 

“You should be nicer to Job.”

Cross actually jolted at the sound of Nia’s voice.  They were almost to the police station, according to the payphone map, and those were the first words that she’d spoken since the memory exchange.

It seemed like one or the other of them had been silently thinking since they’d met.

Cross had been waiting for her disgust or anger or even pity.  He wasn’t sure which of his memories she’d seen, but honestly most of them were the same:  One big interchangeable ball of shit.  He’d done nothing heroic, like rescue a queen from an angry mob.  Or gentle, like read a child poems.  Or selfless, like refuse to leave a dying man behind even in the face of imminent death.  In short, his memories failed to live up to Nia’s righteous and pure life in every conceivable way.

“Job?”  He repeated warily, not sure what else to say.  It might have helped if he could see Nia’s expression, but he wasn’t looking at her.  No way in hell.  He didn’t want to see whatever was reflected in those turquoise eyes.

“Yes.  Job, of the Earth House.  Your uncle.  He’s a wonderful man.  He tries to reach out to you, but you always shut him down.”

Cross almost scoffed outright at that one.  Job was perfect.  So, perfect that his sense of duty wouldn’t let him just ignore Cross completely.  But, the guy sure didn’t want to take him to ballgames or whatever uncles did.  Job stared at Cross with those X-ray green eyes and saw nothing but the disappointing sludge at the bottom of his gene pool.  “Job doesn’t like me.”

“You’re wrong.  He loves you, desperately.  How can you miss it?”

“Easy.  It’s not there.”

“Well, can you think of a reason why Job didn’t mention me as a candidate for your Match?”  Nia didn’t seem willing to drop it.  “He knew that the Phase you felt after the world ended had to be strong.  He even started mentioning the names of potential Elementals.  Then, he stopped and talked about me for a long time.  But, he never said, ‘Hey, I betcha Nia’s the girl you’re looking for!’”

“I’ve never heard Job say the word ‘betcha’ about anything.”  Cross muttered.  But, he still found himself frowning.  Nia had a point.  Job had discussed her endlessly and he knew Cross was desperate for his Match.  In retrospect, it was like Job knew exactly who his nephew was looking for and he’d just never updated Cross.

“I’ve known Job for two hundred and fifty-four years.”  Nia continued.  “You’re the only one I’ve ever seen him be like that with.  He’s so…open.”

“That’s Job being open?”  Cross scoffed.  “He never sits down.  He stands there with his hands behind his back like a palace guard who can’t wait to get off duty and…”

“Did you ever ask him to sit down?”  Nia interrupted.

“Ask him?  And give him the satisfaction of knowing that it pisses me off?  There’s a chair right there and he ignores it.  He doesn’t want to get his clothes dirty with my furniture.”

Nia let out a long sigh.  “Job will never sit unless he’s invited.  It would be impolite.  It would show disrespect.”

Cross did make a skeptical grunting sound that time.  “Yeah, that’s why he does it.  ‘Cause I’m a guy who he just knows gives a shit about etiquette.”  Cross shook his head.  “Let’s talk about something else.  What did you see in my memories?”

“I told you.  I saw you being very cold to Job.”  She insisted.  “Do you want to hear my theory on why he never told you that I was your Match?”

“He was probably trying to save you.”  Cross muttered.  “He likes you more than me.  He probably wasn’t overjoyed that I’d be putting my hands on you.”  Cross glanced down at his palms and swore he could still see the blood.

“Job knew that you’d refuse to listen.”  Nia continued as if he hadn’t spoken.  “That you might be stubborn enough to refuse to ever see me, just to spite him.  So, he tried to soften you towards me with the stories about how super I am, instead.  Subtly manipulating things.  That’s Job.”

Cross was quiet for a long moment, digesting that theory.  His mind went to all the times that Job had worked Nia into a conversation.  “Fucking hell.”

Nia was right.

She had to be.

“You and Job are clearly incapable of running your family, so, I’m taking over as translator.”  She snorted.  “Honestly, Job doesn’t like you, my ass.  He made sure that you found me, didn’t he?”  Her voice turned teasing.  “That’s love.  I mean, have you met me?”

Cross shook his head in amazement.  “Job knew how much I wanted you.  Both yous.  Nia and my Match.  Maybe, he was trying… to give you to me.”  Something inside Cross relaxed.  Something that he hadn’t even known was tense.  “Job always says that you’d be a gift to any man.  Do you think that he was trying to give someone who he treasures so much… to me?  Why would he do that?”

“If it were up to Job, he’d personally oversee everything, everybody does, everywhere in the universe.  And when he cares about someone, he’s twice as obsessive.  So yeah, he was setting you up, ‘cause he loves you.”

Cross blinked.

In his heart, he’d always wanted Job’s approval.

Vice and Ross had both sucked as fathers, and Senti’s mothering skills weren’t exactly going to inspire any cute family sitcoms.  Job was the closest Cross had ever come to having a parent.  A role model.  Aside from Nia, Job was the only person whose opinion even registered with Cross.

The revelation that Job saw him as more than just an obligation or an embarrassment made Cross feel… good.

“Ever since the Fall, Job has been hovering over me.”  Nia informed him as if she didn’t notice that Cross was staring up at the flat clouds in the sky and swallowing hard.  “Even more so than before.  Telling me not to do anything dangerous, not look for the Quintessence, not to go anywhere without Uriel…  Now, I know why.  It’s not because I’m supporting so much of the Water House and he’s afraid I’ll doom the universe if I die.  He was being more overprotective than usual, because he knew that I was yours.  Your Match.”

Cross scowled.  “Wait, he told you to stick close to Uriel?”  His growing, warm and fuzzy feelings towards Job took a nose dive.  Cross didn’t want Uriel near Nia.  He didn’t want any unattached man near Nia.  In fact, some tiny part of him now knew why Vice had executed his father.  He still hated the bastard, but Cross understood the violent possessiveness that must have consumed him.  If Nia found another Match, Cross would go insane.  Or insane-er, anyway.  The man would die.  End of story.

“Job told Uriel to keep the Water House safe.  Uriel is incredibly devoted to his duty, so Job knew he wouldn’t let anyone get within five feet of me, Thar or Ty.  Do you know how many men have come near me since the Fall?”  Nia was on a roll now, full of indignation on Job’s behalf.  She didn’t wait for Cross’ guess.  “Zero.  Not to sound conceited, but I’m a real good catch, too.  I mean, sure a lot of people hate the Water House, but not one single person suggested that we try to Phaze.  Why, you ask?”  Again, no pause for Cross to answer.  “I’ll tell you why.  Because, your uncle, who you are always so mean to, was keeping me just for you and...”

Cross cut her off.  “I’ll tell Job to sit down anywhere he wants, the next time I see him.”  He agreed.  Anyone who kept other Phases away from Nia could have every chair in the house if he felt like dragging them away.

“Thank you.”  Nia had her elbow hooked around his arm and she leaned in to give him a squeeze.  “See, how easily we can work things out if you just communicate?”

“You mean how easily I’ll cave in when you start lecturing me, right?  Job warned me that you were bossy.”  Cross’ mouth twitched upward as she wacked his shoulder with her free hand.

Nia chuckled and then was quiet for a moment.  “Seriously, Cross.  About the memories…  Do you really want me to tell you everything I saw and then tell me everything you saw?  Or do you want to just accept that we know basically everything there is to know about our pasts and we still want to be with each other anyway?”

Cross finally met Nia’s gaze.  He stared at her for a long time, seeing nothing but endless blue perfection in her eyes.  She wasn’t going to leave him.  She wasn’t going to renounce him for his past.

She was a miracle.

“Every rotten thing that’s ever happened to me…  I wouldn’t change any of it, Nia.  I wouldn’t change anything, because I ended up here you.  So, it was all worth it.”  He glanced away, again, feeling awkward.  “And yeah, that’s all I wanna say about it, right now.”

“Thank you.”  Nia blinked rapidly and then she cleared her throat.  “Well, I would change some things about my past.”  She decided, obviously going for a lighter tone.  “For instance, my ninety-third birthday dress was a nightmare.  What was I thinking?  And I always wanted to go skydiving, but I’ve never actually done it, which is disappointing.”

Cross shuddered at the very idea.  “I wouldn’t change that.”  He decided, firmly.  “Please don’t ever change that.”

They reached the police station and Cross opened the door so Nia could enter first.  The interior was institutional chic, beige-on-beige, accessorized with empty coffee cups and stacks of files.  Cross looked around, suspiciously.  It felt like someone used a lot of power here, recently.  He looked down at Nia and saw she was frowning, too.

“Job?”  He guessed, quietly.  That amount of energy limited the suspects.

“Or Gion.”  Nia ran a hand through her hair.  “Damn it.  How does he always track Ty so fast?”  She headed across the room towards the lone person in the police station.  The guy was big for a human, with a vicious scar on his face that looked like four, concentric semi-circles.  In fact, it reminded Cross of the burner of a stove.  The guy’s deep brown eyes came up as they entered the station and latched on Nia.

Cross felt a snarl rising up inside of him as the human’s gaze slid over her curves body.  It was so fast that Nia didn’t even noticed, but Cross sure as hell did.  Nia was still glowing from their almost Phazing against the building.  Her hair and skin just begged to be touched.  And if the cop even thought too hard about doing it, Cross would lop off his arms at the shoulder.

Cross moved so he was right behind Nia, placing a proprietary hand on her waist and pulling her closer to his side.  He watched the cop, silently.

The cop got the message, because he gave his head a small shake and when he looked at Nia again, none of his momentary desire was visible.  “Can I help you?”  He asked as if he really wasn’t looking forward to trying.

“Yes, we’re here to ransom my cousin, my brother and our friend.”  Nia smiled a brilliantly fake smile.  “Can you please get them, if they haven’t escaped?”

“Ransom?”  The human turned his head slightly, so his wounded cheek wasn’t as noticeable.  Cross was actually relieved that he did that, because he didn’t want Nia to get interested in the scar.  Elemental woman always liked warrior marks.  “You mean bail?”

“Yes, bail.  I’m sorry.  I don’t usually mix-up words like that.”  Nia was nervous, her eyes shifting around looking for Air Phases.  “Um, did you happen to see a very tall man with a yellow stripe in his hair around here?  His name is Gion.  He’d probably be wearing black clothes and be really insolent to everyone.”

“Yeah, I sent Johnny Cash packing a little while ago.  He’s gone.”

“Really?”  Nia sagged in relief.  “Thank Gaia.  Um, I’d like collect my family before he returns, then.  Their names are Ty and Tharsis Waterhouse and…”

“Yeah, I know who you want.  They’re in the back.”  The cop looked straight at Nia’s turquoise blue highlight.

Cross had never really thought of it as intimate before.  The streak was right there on every Phase.  But, knowing how it was just a little more sensitive than the rest of her hair, and how Nia made that seductive whimpering sound when he curled his fingers around it, made it special.  Cross didn’t like the human staring at the highlight like he’d love to see how it felt against his own skin.

Cross moved his hand so his thumb just brushed her turquoise temple.  The territorial display was probably insulting to Nia.  She wouldn’t be with the human.  Cross knew how much she wanted their Phase-Match.  He’d seen her loyalty and determination in her memories.  She wanted to Phaze with him for some reason that even Cross didn’t understand.  But, this wasn’t about how much he trusted Nia.  Because, he did trust her.  With his life.  It was about Cross wanting the cop to understand that she was his Match.  That Cross had the right to stroke Nia and that the human did not, so he’d better not fucking try.

The human cleared his throat, tearing his eyes from Nia’s hair.  “Right, well, the thing is, Miss Waterhouse…  I mean,” He glanced at Cross.  “Are you her husband?”

“Yes.”  Cross intoned.

“No.”  Nia, said at exactly the same time.

The cop’s eyebrows soared at the different voting outcomes.

“What the hell do you mean ‘no’?!”  Cross glowered down at Nia, furious that she’d try to deny his claim in front of the human.  “What is a Match if not their equivalent of husband?!  Huh?”

“You won’t Phaze with me.”  She reminded him, pointedly.  “Without Phazing, we can’t consummate anything.  That means we aren’t really married in their culture.  Correct, officer?”

“Absolutely.  If you’re talking about…Uh…  Well, I mean, there’s annulments and everything for that.”  The cop nodded, seemingly fascinated with this conversational tangent.  “And you can call me Sullivan.”

Cross all but bared his teeth at the man.  He grabbed Nia by the arm and tugged her away from Sullivan’s desk.  “Nia.”  He lowered his voice and switched to Elemental.  “We can’t Phaze, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t married.  We’re more than married.  Humans don’t even come close to Phazing.  Why are you saying this?”

“I’m trying to get your attention!  You won’t even consider that I could be right about Matches always being capable of supporting each other’s energy.  Instead…”

The door to the police station opened again and Uriel strolled in, interrupting Nia.  Standing next to him was the blonde cop from the hospital and it would’ve taken the stupidest Phase in the universe to miss the fact that he’d Phazed with her.

The woman beamed like she’d single handedly discovered the cure for the Fall and gazed up at Uriel like he was it.  There was a flowing energy around them, as their powers sustained each other and grew into something new.  It was always like that with Matches who Phazed.  Their separate energies created a bigger, more stable whole.  To this day, Cross had no idea how his parents had hidden their connection from Vice.  It should have been obvious to everyone, in fact.  It just went to show what a weak connection they’d had.  For the first time, he almost felt sorry for them.  They’d never found what he had with Nia.

Even if he was screwing it up.

Cross glanced down at Nia, taking in her surprise and longing as she stared at Uriel and the woman.  He was disappointing his Match.  Depriving her of something that every Phase should experience.  Cross wanted Nia more than he’d thought it possible to want anything.  All the times he’d been hungry and thirsty and cold, meant nothing compared to his desire for her.  But he couldn’t be as selfish as his mother had been.  Couldn’t think only of himself instead of his Match.  The Shadows could hurt Nia, no matter how strong she was and how much she wanted to fight.

Unfortunately, by denying her the full Phazing, Cross was hurting her, anyway.

Shit.

“Mel, what the hell are you doing holding hands with your prisoner?”  Sullivan demanded, and it occurred to Cross that something strange was going on here.  He’d been thinking of Nia and he’d missed the very obvious “wait a minute” part of Uriel’s Phazing.

His woman was human.

At least she seemed human.  It was impossible.  Phases didn’t Match with humans.

“Is she human?”  Cross demanded before he thought better of it.

“Mostly.”  Uriel squeezed his Match’s hand and grinned.  “She is Melanie.”  He apparently thought that said it all.  “Melanie, this is Nia and Cross.  Don’t get too close to Cross.  He’s a little bit wrong.”

“He is not!”  Nia yelped with a gratifying amount of irritation.

“Hey, guys.”  Melanie held up her free palm in an absent wave as she focused on her cousin.  “Sully, now I can explain this.”  She nodded, earnestly.  “Uriel isn’t really a drug addict or a crook.  He’s a solider.”

Sullivan didn’t look impressed with the distinction.  His eyes flicked to the sword that Uriel had strapped to his back.  “A solider who was -what?  Protecting the hospital from dragons?  Damn it, Mel, you gave him back that blade?  Who is this World of Warcraft guy?   Do you even know?”

“I am her Match.”  Uriel announced.  “And custom dictates that you and I speak, Sullivan.  As a fellow warrior, I know that you are concerned about your cousin.  And, perhaps, you are feeling like I will take her away from you, somehow.  But, Melanie and I have Phazed now…”

“Oh, God!”  Sullivan groaned.  He looked over at Nia.  “Tell me I was wrong about what that Phazing thing meant.  Please?”

She winced and shrugged helplessly.

Melanie pinched the bridge of her nose.  “Uriel, honey, ix-nay on the azingphay, okay?  At least, around my cousin.”

Uriel didn’t let the interruptions deter him from his mentally rehearsed speech.  “…And I would like to formally welcome you to my family, Sullivan, grandson of Parson.”  He opened his arms in a sort of open air, long distance hug.  “Brother.”

Melanie somehow managed to laugh and cringe at the same time as she took in her cousin’s horrified expression.  “Sullivan, if you’ll just listen…”

“No.  No, I’ve heard enough gory details.  I can’t believe you have such terrible judgment.  Wasn’t Brad, bad enough?  Do you see the shirt that this basehead is wearing?”  Sullivan gestured towards the ‘Sexy Grandma’ lettering plastered across Uriel’s chest.  “Has he hypnotized you?”

“No, I just really, really…” Melaine shrugged, helplessly.  “Love him.”

“Melanie, I swear to God…”  The phone on Sullivan’s desk rang and he expelled a frustrated breath.  “Don’t move.”  He warned her as he picked it up.  “What?”  He barked into the receiver.

There was a pause as he listened to the person on the other end for a beat.  “Wait, what?”  He looked stunned.  “Beheaded?  Who the hell would behead someone in this town?”

Uriel looked over at Cross, meaningfully.

“Shut-up.”  Nia hissed.  “I mean it, Uriel.”

“Yeah.”  Sullivan ran a hand through his hair.  “Yeah, I’m on my way.  Don’t touch anything.”

“Sully?”  Melanie frowned as her cousin hung up the phone.  “What’s going on?”

“Someone beheaded a lab tech over at the hospital.  In the same serology lab where we arrested your boyfriend there.”  Sullivan grabbed his jacket and headed for the door.  “I hafta go over there.  Can I trust you to watch the prisoners, Mel?  I mean it.  Don’t elope or something while I’m gone.  This is important.  We haven’t had a murder in Mayport Beach since the ‘70s.”

Cross’ jaw firmed.  That could only be the work of a Phase.  Probably the Air House coming to see what happened to their six dead comrades.

Shit.

“Sullivan.”  Nia called as the cop went striding off without bothering to wait for Melanie’s response.

He turned back to glance at Nia.  “Yeah?  What?”

“If you see anyone with a yellow streak in their hair,” she pointed to her highlight,  “don’t trust them.  They’re probably dangerous.”  She must’ve been thinking the same thing as Cross.  When decapitated bodies started popping up, it was a good bet that some Elementals had hit town.

Sullivan eyed her seriously for along moment.  “We’re gonna talk.”  He warned and went stomping out.

Cross glowered down at her.  “I don’t think you should talk to him.  He’ll be too interested whatever you have to say.  Why do you have to be so pretty?”

She gave him a haughty sniff.  “We’re still not done discussing our ‘azingphay,’ so don’t bother trying to sweet-talk me, Cross, of the Shadow House.”  Still, she stood on tiptoe to kiss the side of his chin as she headed over to Uriel.  She had a grip on his hand to prevent the headaches, so Cross allowed himself to be pulled along in her wake.  “Alright, what topic should we tackle first, Uriel?”  She inquired.  “You somehow having a human Match, the fact that Gion was here a little while ago, or the beheading at the hospital?  They all have the potential to be super fun, so I’ll let you choose.”

“Maybe Gion was the one who beheaded the lab tech.”  Cross suggested.  There weren’t a lot of murder sprees, natural disasters, and other assorted badness that he couldn’t picture Gion, of the Air House inflicting on the world.  After all, the guy wasn’t called Darth Vader by most of the Elemental wiseasses just because of the black cape.

“Why would Gion bother, though?  Why would anyone?”  Nia sighed.  “My whole rebellion is falling apart.  I never expected any humans to be hurt.  And Tharsis will be so upset.  He thinks humans are just adorable –He spent his whole career studying them!-- and now one’s been chopped up because of us.”

“Not because of you.  Because of the Air House.”  Cross corrected, firmly.  “Or it could’ve been the Reprisal.  It’s not just you drawing them to town, either.  Not if you’re right about the Quintessence hanging around this place.  I told you that thing will bring all the crazies out from under their rocks.  Everyone’s going to be looking for it.”

“Melanie will help us with that part.”  Uriel had apparently picked the topic that interested him and -surprise, surprise- it was his little blonde Match.  “She has a computer with blood data on it.”

“Well, it’s not really mine.  It’s the taxpayers, but yeah.  I have access to DNA records.”  Melanie headed over to her desk, fishing her keys out of her pocket as she went.  “Here, cowboy.”  She tossed them to Uriel.  “Go let your friends outta their cell.”

He gave her an adoring smile and headed off to free Ty and Tharsis.

“Why can’t your brother just use Water pressure to bend the bars or something?”  Cross asked Nia.  “I was expecting them to be gone by the time we got here.”

“Our cells are Plexiglas.”  Melanie sat behind her desk and booted up her computer.  “That was grandpa’s idea, back when my grandmother was the dispatcher here.  Now I get why he thought of it.  You guys are like all kryptonite-y around plastics, right?  At least, that’s what Uriel said about the handcuffs when we were in the backseat…”  She trailed off and focused intently on her Jensen Ackles wallpaper.

Cross and Nia exchanged a glance.  “Handcuffs?”  He mouthed.

Nia leaned closer to him.  “If we Phazed, I’d let you try that.”  She offered, persuasively.  She let her body slide past his as she walked towards Melanie’s desk.  Her free hand brushed across the front of his pants, just long enough to nearly kill him.

Until that moment, Cross hadn’t known it was possible to feel your pupils dilating. Arousal roared through him.  He reached over to grip a wooden chair back as tightly as he could, expending pressure so he wouldn’t crush Nia’s fingers.  Her other palm was still caught in his.  Cross felt his energy sizzle out into the room and fought to control the urge to Phaze.

Right now.

The chair splintered under Cross’ grip and Melanie’s head snapped up.

“Oh, great.  You’re paying for that.  You guys are –like-- stronger than humans or whatever.  You should be more careful of our stuff.  And our heads.  I’m already going to have to pin this murder on some made-up human suspect and now you’re breaking the furniture, too?  Not cool.”

“Sorry.  Cross is just tense because he refuses to Phaze with me.”  Nia sat down on the edge of the desk, right next to a mostly dead fern.  She raised a “what can you do?” sort of shoulder.  “I keep telling him…”

Melanie cut her off, gaping over at Cross.  “Are you crazy?”

“Yes.”  He told her, seriously, still breathing hard.

Nia rolled her eyes.

Melanie waved that aside.  “You have to trust me on this, big guy.  Alright?  I know what I’m talking about here.  Phazing is for sure something you wanna try.  I completely support it for our new national sport, in fact.  You should sleep with that girl.”  She pointed at Nia.  “Why would you refuse her, when she’s so cute?”

“Because, I’m crazy.”  Cross kicked aside the assorted chair debit and scowled at Melanie.  “Didn’t you listen to Uriel?  I’m wrong.  I could hurt her.”  Even he could hear that that sounded pretty maudlin.

Melanie glanced over at Nia.  “He’s sort of got a whole dramatic, self-denial, emo thing happening, doesn’t he?  Are you guys not over emo, yet?”

“He’ll come around.”  Nia said, confidently.  “Do you really think you’ll be able to say ‘no’ to me forever, Cross?  I am pretty cute.”  She grinned, impishly.

He ignored that because he had the real bad feeling that she was right.

Shit.

“Nia.”  The door leading to the holding cell area swung open and Ty came rushing forward.  “There you are.  I’ve been so worried.”  She threw her arms around her cousin and hugged tight.  “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.  Are you guys okay?  I heard Gion showed up.”

“He did.  But, then Ty had a panic attack and he left.”  Tharsis came over, his too perceptive gaze on Cross.  “You been taking care of my sister?”

“I’d die for your sister.”  Cross knew when he was being measured.  Over and over in life, eyes had skimmed past him, adding up the sum of his parts and finding him lacking.

Tharsis slapped a hand on to Cross’ shoulder.  “I’m going to hold you to that.”  He warned, good naturedly.

And, for once, Cross saw only wary acceptance in someone’s face.  Tharsis wasn’t going to try to keep him from Nia.  That was good, because Cross knew that Nia loved her family.  She wouldn’t like it if he was forced into a swordfight with her twin.  But, it also felt… nice that the Water House seemed willing to let him try and prove himself before coming after him with swords.

Ty gave Cross a very tentative smile and, having seen some of her history, Cross figured that was amounted to a “welcome to the family!” party being thrown in his honor.

“Ty.”  Nia didn’t seem surprised by Cross’ sudden popularity.  Instead, she focused on her cousin.  “Honey, you had a panic attack in front of Gion?  God, Thar, he’ll tell Parald.”

“I don’t think so…”  Tharsis began, thoughtfully.

“Gion knows about the Quintessence.”  Ty interrupted.  “We have to find it before he does.”  She looked over at Melanie.  “You are Uriel’s Match?”

“He’s my Match.”  Melanie corrected.  She gestured towards the computer.  “Here, you’re the hacker, right?  Go to work.”

“You’re taking this all very well, Melanie.”  Nia mused.  She glanced down at the fern on the desk, which seemed to have doubled in size and general wellness since Melanie had been sitting there.  “Are you sure you’re a human?”

“She’s mostly human.”  Uriel reiterated.  He came to stand next to Melanie, as Ty began typing on the keyboard.  “Her grandfather was Wood Phase.  Parson, one of our Elders.  He left us and never returned.  He must’ve come here and Phazed with a human.  They had children and Melanie is of their line.”

Everyone’s mouths dropped open.  Having a human Match was shocking enough, but interbreeding?  Humans and Phases couldn’t interbreed.  It said so in every Elemental biology text ever written.  Yet, Melanie existed.  Defy all their laws and confirming that interbreeding could actually happen.

“Surprise.”  Melanie shrugged.  “I was kinda freaked out, at first, but after the pine trees, and the Phazing, and the memory thing… Well, the ‘finding out that grandpa was part alien’ thing was just sorta ‘meh, whatever.’  Ya know?”

Cross squinted, trying to decipher that.

“We aren’t aliens.”  Uriel sounded like he’d been patiently repeating that all day.  “We are Elementals.  We control the interconnected…”

“I know, I know.”  Melanie held up a hand.  “Sorry, I know you’re touchy about the UFO stuff.”

“There are no aliens in this galaxy.”  Uriel said the words with Melanie mouthing along.

Tharsis swallowed.  “This is… amazing.  I mean, really amazing.”  He leaned forward to study Melanie, careful to not actually make contact with her body and set Uriel off.  Phases really did not like other Phases touching their Matches.

As it was, Uriel stiffened slightly at another man standing so close to Match.

Cross knew exactly how he felt.

“Everyone always said that humans and Phases couldn’t interbreed.”  Tharsis shook his head.  “But, here you are.  Proof that we can find Matches outside the Elemental realm.”  He was quiet for a long moment, just staring at her and Cross realized that the guy was being serious for once.  “Thank you, Melanie.”  He finally whispered.  “I thought, I must have lost my Match in the Fall.  Seeing you, though… It shows me that she could still be out there.”

“You’re welcome.”  Her mouth curved.  “You might want to not mention your criminal tendencies to your dream girl when you find her, though.”

“The Council won’t like it.”  Cross felt compelled to point out.  “Interbreeding with humans is just not a plan they’re gonna support.”

“Not even Job has the authority to overrule the will of Gaia.”  Uriel pulled Melanie closer as if Cross might try to steal her away.  “I was led here to my Match and now I’m bringing hope to Phases everywhere.  If we have Matches, we can stop our extinction.  Have you considered…”

“Oh, shit!”

Cross was used to hearing that word in his own mind as he dealt with the world around him.  He wasn’t so accustomed to hearing it bellowed by little red headed Water Queens.

Ty slammed her hands down on the desk and squeezed her eyes shut.  “It set us up.”  She breathed.  “Nia, it set us up!”

Nia blinked.  “Um… Okay.”

“Don’t you see what the Quintessence did?”  Ty exploded from her seat. “Why it donated that blood here in Mayport Beach?  That’s the part that never made any sense to me.”

“That was the part, huh?”  Melanie muttered.  She leaned over to rub the leafy surface of her fern and made a “whoa” sound as it tried to curl around her wrist.  “Crap.  Look at this, Uriel. I’m that Batman villain Uma Thurman played, all of a sudden.  I hated that movie, too.”

“You are developing some Wood Phase powers, my love.”  Uriel grinned, proudly.  “I told you the Phazing might affect your dormant energies.”

“Ty?”  Nia prompted when her cousin just continued pacing.  “What are you saying?”

Ty slammed her hands on the desk and dropped her head down in frustration.  “I’m saying that if Elementals become extinct, we take the rest on the universe with us.  Which is something not even the Quintessence can recover from.  I’m saying that, being a Divine creature, it somehow knew that humans could give us Matches.  I’m saying that we haven’t been tracking it.  It’s been leading us here to her.”  Ty gestured to Melanie.  “So we’d see how to save ourselves and not end the world again.”

That was the longest speech Cross had ever heard the girl make and by the expressions on Thar and Nia’s faces he wasn’t alone in his shock.

Ty was pissed.

“It used me.”  She bit-off.  “It thinks it can pop-up just long enough to get me to see it and a follow It down the rabbit hole.”  She pressed the heels of her palms against her eyes and swore softly.  “We have to start the whole search over.”

“It’s not in Mayport Beach?”  Nia looked stunned.  “You mean, it’s not here, at all.”

“I don’t know.”  Ty murmured, tiredly, “It might be here.  Or it might be in Albuquerque.  Or in Bora Bora.  Or on Neptune.  But, I do know that the blood is a dead end.  It’s cheese in a mouse trap, Nia, drawing us here so we could find out about the humans.”

“Well, it is good news for you people.”  Melanie pointed out.  “What with your extinction and all.”

Ty didn’t appear to hear that.  She shook her head.  “I should have seen it.  I had all the research.  All the evidence of human DNA in Elemental lines.  It’s why some of us were immune to the Fall.  I just never took it to the next step of considering Matches.  There has to be Elemental DNA in the human population.  How else would the genetic immunity be passed to children unless somewhere, at some time, Elementals and humans interbred?  Humans would have to be potential Matches.  I’m such an idiot!”

“Yeah, I totally would have put that together.”  Tharsis deadpanned.  “Moron.”

Ty was silent for a moment.  Then, she gave a small laugh and looked over at her cousin.  “I just really detest you, Thar.”  Her tone held such affection that Cross knew it wasn’t just Tharsis and Nia who treasured Ty.  She adored them right back.  No wonder Job spent so much time with the Water House.  They made you feel less lonely just by surrounding you with their open, real love for one another.

Cross wrapped an arm around Nia, who still seemed shell-shocked.  “You okay, baby?”

“I was so sure…”  She dropped her forehead against his shirt and sighed.  “I was so sure we could find it and fix things.”  She sounded lost and sad, and it broke his heart.

 Cross pressed a kiss to the top of her head.  “The Quintessence is out there.  We’ll just have to look harder, baby.”

Ty, Tharsis, and Nia all stared at him with identical hopeful, turquoise eyes.  Cross realized that he was somehow being asked to promise Virginia that there really was a Santa Claus.  What’s more he wanted to offer them some reassurances.  Wanted Nia to go back to her usual scheming self, and Thar to keep his sudden optimism for the future, and for Ty to stop pacing.  “Um, Ty?  You said that the Quintessence poked its head up, right?  So, it has to --you know-- be here somewhere.  Even if it was just trying to manipulate you guys, it exists.  That’s the most important thing.  You can find it.”

Ty digested that for a beat.  “I can find it.”  She echoed.  Her gazed narrowed behind the cat’s eyes lens of her glasses.  “It set things up for me to follow the breadcrumbs.  Me.  It knew I was researching humans and it used that to get me right where it wanted me.  The Quintessence thinks it’s smarter than me, but it’s not.  I might not have a lot else, but I’m smart.”

“You have plenty else…”  Nia began.

An explosion of power cut her off.

Overhead lights blew out.  With a surge of energy, a small army of Reprisal soldiers filled the police station.  And all of them were armed.

Shit.